Somewhere Only We Know
by Dark Daimon
Summary: Sora and Kairi are ONLY best friends. Yet Sora's feelings grow outside of friendship into romance. How will he cope while the love of his life dates the best friend he's ever had? AU, Highschool fic, all kinds of love categories.
1. Prologue

**Somewhere Only We Know**

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters mentioned in this story. They belong to Disney and Square-Enix.

**-PROLOGUE-**

_I walked across an empty land_

_I knew the pathway like the back of my hand_

_I felt the earth beneath my feet_

_Sat by the river and it made me complete_

_Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?_

_I'm getting old and I need something to rely on_

_So tell me when you're gonna let me in_

_I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin_

_I came across a fallen tree_

_I felt the branches of it looking at me_

_Is this the place we used to love?_

_Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?_

_Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?_

_I'm getting old and I need something to rely on _

_So tell me when you're gonna let me in_

_I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin_

_And if you have a minute, why don't we go_

_Talk about it somewhere only we know_

_This could be the end of everything_

_So why don't we go somewhere only we know?_

_Somewhere only we know…_

_Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?_

_I'm getting old and I need something to rely on _

_So tell me when you're gonna let me in_

_I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin_

_And if you have a minute, why don't we go_

_Talk about it somewhere only we know_

_This could be the end of everything_

_So why don't we go, so why don't we go…_

_This could be the end of everything_

_So why don't we go somewhere only we know?_

_Somewhere only we know…_

_Somewhere only we know…_

It all begins with one look. No matter how you look at it, you don't really start liking someone without seeing their gaze lay on yours. Whether it's right in front of your face, or a dream, a memory, even a fantasy; you can't deny that the feeling sprouts from its dormant seed with just one look. And from that moment on, any type of infatuation you have towards that person, or any type of heat you feel down your back when around that person can't be ignored.

And you know what's worse? There's no easy way to turn your back on that person OR the feelings you have for them. It's as if even though you give up hope in your mind, your heart is convinced that you'll be with that person someday, regardless of all the obstacles to be passed. In a way, the heart is very primitive in a sense, not caring whether or not the person is taken, and not taking your wish to keep the feelings secret into consideration.

Kairi was one of the prettiest girls in town, at the tender age of fifteen. Her long red hair would hang down to her shoulders in such a way that caused her to gain great radiance in her appearance. Her crystal blue eyes were ALWAYS kind and understanding, and there wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that she was an upfront honest person. Kairi always looked comfortable with her surroundings, as if she was just the thing to make the picture perfect.

For Sora, Kairi was just the addition he needed to make _his_ life picture perfect. To seize the chance was never an issue with Sora. If he wanted to do something, he did not hesitate before jumping to the opportunity. Unfortunately, Kairi was the only thing, the only girl Sora could not seize. He was her best friend, and she his, yet he yearned to get closer to her in a way he could never be just being friends.

For a long time, Kairi had been dating Sora's other best friend, Riku, a whole year older then both Kairi and him. Riku and Sora had always been the best of friends, perhaps even more so then Kairi and Sora. Riku's feelings for Kairi were seemingly equal to that of Sora's. As he cared deeply for Riku, he would not advance in any affection he bore towards Kairi. And that was his reason for not seizing the perfect girl for him.

...Or maybe that was just his excuse. As much as Sora cared about Riku's feelings, and as much as he liked Kairi, even if he had been a selfish kind of guy he could never ever win Kairi's heart. Not only did Riku give off the 'cool' and 'collected' aura, he was definitely physically enhanced compared to Sora. In Kairi's eyes, Sora thought, he was cute and Riku was a hottie. Sora had no chance when put in comparison to Riku, and he knew it. Perhaps this was the real reason why he did not dare seize Kairi.

Still, Sora wondered what one kiss would feel like. One kiss where both Kairi and he were one being for one second. Everything would be singular and everything would be right. If Sora could be blessed with the miracle of tasting Kairi's kiss, which he desired for so much, his heartache may quickly be mended. His picture would be perfect, even if only for a moment. It was thoughts like these that actually caused Sora to contemplate whether or not he SHOULD go through with kissing Kairi.

...Nope. No, he couldn't do it. Riku would step on him.

Still, a boy can dream can't he?

At this moment in time, Sora stood alone in the secret cave he had found long ago with Riku. Although the cave was discovered by the two friends, Riku had been inside of it a mere minute of his life while Sora visited it nearly every day of his life. In truth, the cave was mainly inhabited by Kairi and Sora. The two of them scribbled on the walls as children, and would doodle various simple designs that exposed their childhood innocence. Unfortunately, Kairi's dedication to visiting the cave had lessened over the years after she began to date Riku. Now, it was Sora alone who visited the cave on his lonely days.

As Sora studied the drawings, he knew very well that Kairi was getting gussied up for the huge dinner party being held by Riku's family. This seemed to be another reason why she'd prefer Riku over Sora: Riku was extremely rich. His family was one of the wealthiest families in the city. The dinner party appeared to be some sort of family reunion, and Riku chose to invite Kairi with the intention of introducing her to most of his family members. Good food, rich people, nice house...Kairi was set.

The love struck boy continued to gaze at the pictures drawn by both Kairi and him. Among the pictures, one in particular stood out. It was the oldest picture in the cave. It consisted of Kairi and Sora's faces smiling at each other. Sora sat on the ground, very much aware that the dirt would smudge on the dress pants he had left on from his school uniform. He made an addition to the picture: a paopu fruit extending from Sora's head to Kairi's. If shared the paopu fruit was said to bind two people together for eternity.

A ring. Sora shifted on the ground, slightly startled by the sudden sound which echoed in the cave. He looked down at his belt and found that his pitch black cell phone had begun to ring. The ringtone was the familiar sound of Utada Hikaru's "Passion". When Sora read the caller ID, he immediately answered the call.

"Hi!" he greeted, attempting to sound as cheerful as he could. "Now? ...Well yeah, I guess if it's in an hour...but why can't you just call? Isn't anyone home? ...Oh...I suppose if you're getting picked up, yeah." Sora looked down at his feet and let out an ever-so-quite sigh. "Yeah, sure. I'll be there as quick as I can."

Kairi was definitely a beauty worth seeing after slipping into her faded purple bare-back dress. The radio was playing quietly on top of her dresser, and Kairi hummed softly along with the music. Although she was short for time, Kairi remained in her bedroom calmly, staring at her reflection in the mirror and helplessly experimenting on what to do with her hair. "And breeeeeak aaaaawayyyy..." she sang along with the radio. A knock came at the door. "Come in!" she called out.

Sora entered her room timidly, and after confirming that Kairi was decent he made his way further in towards her. "Hey."

"Sora!" Kairi sighed with relief. "Thank God you're here. If Riku would've came to get me and I STILL wasn't ready, I dunno how he'd react. You don't mind occupying him for a bit?"

"Not at all, Kairi!" Sora assured. "But...just out of curiosity, what is it you're having trouble with?"

Giving a groan of annoyance, Kairi leaned against her dresser, and lowered her head into the cradle her arms had shaped. "My hair..." she explained, her voice slightly muffled. "I dunno what to do with it...what if they don't like what I end up doing with it?"

"Are you sure it's the hair you're worried about showing them?" Sora asked, smirking. "What about the impression they get on you?"

"I guess so..."

"Kairi, don't worry, they're gonna like you no matter what you look like!" Sora chuckled. "And by the way, wear the hair down. It looks real nice like that." He complimented. Kairi blushed as she picked up the crimson brush off of her dresser and began to touch it up. Sora awaited a response, but none came. She simply continued to give her hair a thorough brush. Slowly, her eyes drifted over to Sora's reflection.

"Thank you." She thanked. "You're a nice help." Now it was Sora's turn to blush. He squirmed a bit, and then made his way to Kairi's bed, giving her a nod. Sora sat down and felt the soft, cool comforter beneath him. Suddenly, a sharp knock at the front door was sounded, causing the both of them to jump a little. Sora gave a shrug and stood up, making his way to the door.

"I'll go get that!" the boy walked out of Kairi's room and straight down the hall, where he answered her pearly white front door. Sure enough, there stood the tall Riku towering over Sora. He was wearing a more formal looking outfit then usual, and looked as if he was ready to leave the house as soon as possible. He nodded to Sora in salutations.

"Hey, Sora." He greeted. "Where's Kairi? Is she ready?"

"Yeah, she's just getting finished up." Sora assured. Subconsciously, he almost felt angered that Riku was not suspicious of his presence in Kairi's home with nobody else home. Why was it so hard to believe that he could possibly make a move on Kairi, or that Kairi could be cheating on Riku?

Sora thought it must've been because not only did Riku know how good of a friend Sora was to him, but also that Kairi was an honest and fair person. Sora wondered if being frustrated about being considered too good to make a move on a girl meant that he really WAS ready to make a move on Kairi. Realising these thoughts, he quickly snapped out of it.

"Thanks." Riku thanked. Then, there she came from behind Sora: Kairi. She walked straight to Riku and slid her slender arm around his muscular arm. She looked to Sora and flashed him a beautifully white smile.

"You can make yourself at home, if you want." She reminded. "We have to go now, but we'll see you later, okay?" And with that...they were gone. Both of them. Both his best friends, yet they had know idea of the feelings of desire and frustration trapped within his heart. He merely could wave.

He merely could sigh.

A/N: Yay! Prologue done! Please R&R!


	2. Chapter 1

**-CHAPTER 1: First Wake Up-**

It most likely is impossible to deny that just about everyone is nervous on the first day of school. Whether or not the pit at the bottom of your stomach is caused from thinking about what teachers you'll get is a different story. The truth of matter is that most of our worries and fears have nothing to do whatsoever with our studies. No, what students REALLY worry about is how many relationships they're going to get into for the year, and how long they'll be able to keep those relationships alive. When we're in highschool, most of our time is spent inside the school walls. Since it's the only independent life we've really been given, every student has their own share of wishes to make everything in their lives a-okay, picture perfect.

As for any student who hasn't been blessed with a mental wake-up call, it's not hard to believe that all students agree on one thing: the alarm clock is the worst sound ever created in the history of mankind. Just as you're deep in dream land about that wonderful trip around the world, that wonderful music video award you received, or that wonderful doughnut you were planning on eating, the alarm clock rips you away from slumber only to throw you into the torture we know as "highschool".

In the wonderful land of Sora, Sora and Kairi had been frolicking in a field of flowers, which was surprisingly inside of a shopping mall. It appeared that the two had entered a skipping contest and Sora intended to win. Up ahead was Riku, who stood their greeting them with a soft smirk. Sora ran over to him and shook his hand. "Hey, Riku!" Sora greeted.

"Hey." Riku nodded. "You can't have Kairi, you know."

"I...I know that..." Sora stuttered. "Why would you think..." he started to cry hysterically, sobbing loudly. Sora reached for his eyes and rubbed the tears out of them. Riku had his back towards him, as if he refused to look at his friend. Confused, Sora tapped Riku on the shoulder. Riku turned around and frowned down at Sora.

"Rootbeer is good." He growled. Sora smiled and nodded. All of the sudden, a humongous whale seemingly came out of nowhere, and swallowed all the malls inhabitants, leaving Sora to fall in an endless void.

OOOOO

The alarm clock went off and Sora awoke from his awkward dream with a sudden urge to down a glass of Rootbeer. He rubbed his sweaty brow and reached over for the alarm clock, turning it off with haste. Sora let out a groan that was barely audible; today was the first day of school. As he stood up, Sora began to stretch his muscles. He then opened his blinds. It was a beautiful sunny day...yet it was the first day of school. Completely and utterly unbearable.

Sora hit the showers, only to find that the house was running dangerously low on hot water. This was expected, of course, considering it was the first day of school and Sora's life of lately was crap. After retreating from the arctic winds of his shower, Sora slipped on his school uniform and quickly smeared some hair gel through his thick hair. He took his black leather wallet off his dresser and stuffed it in his back pocket. He then collected all his notebooks and made his way out the front door.

The walk. Walking to school on the first day is like walking on your death roll. You know you're entering a time of misery and frustration, but you also know that if you don't go you could meet severe circumstances. Such as getting video games confiscated from mom. Or perhaps getting some phone time with that special someone cut off. Due to Sora's secret infatuation with Kairi, he was often well behaved. He couldn't bare to think of how he would deal with not being able to see Kairi for one day JUST because he was grounded. Anyways, all Sora knew is that he hadn't skipped a day of school yet and he didn't plan to. As much as he hated school, he had to admit that he had a knack for doing the right thing.

The only good thing about school was that Sora could see Kairi nearly every day. Even so, the first day of school would always be stressful as there was always the chance that he would be put in a different class then her. Sora remembered the previous year when his math AND history classes were separate from Kairi's. Still, it didn't matter much. Nobody ever talked during class, they only passed notes. But with Kairi's grace and good natured heart, she refused to partake in anything that broke the class rules. Regardless, Sora was able to gaze upon her form each day he could.

Suddenly, the death roll didn't seem as bad as Sora made it out to be.

OOOOO

For some people, the beautiful sunny morning was able to overcome any feelings of remorse over starting a new school year. While some students would moan and groan on the first day, other students felt nothing but excitement as their radios would blast loud but catchy pop tunes which began immediately after an awakening. These students would be the lucky ones. These were the teens that could arrive at any obstacle in life and find a bright side to it, no matter how boring or pointless.

While many students found terror in starting off the school year, Naminé felt nothing but excitement and affection towards the occasion. She wasn't nerdy, nor was she an A+ student. Naminé had many reasons for loving the school she attended. After all, for her whole life Naminé had been home schooled. Kingdom Hearts Highschool had been one of the only large scale social interactions she experienced. Naminé had only just started going to the school as of mid-January, the previous year. Considering she had never been to a school before in her life, Naminé felt joy in many of her experiences. She experienced the kind of joy that most teenagers her age should not choose to overlook.

The melodies of 'Hung Up' echoed throughout Naminé's room. Her walls and furniture were drenched in a beautiful egg shell-white shade. Naminé guided her pearly white brush through her long, golden thread like hair as she hummed along to the music which played on her small low-quality, but handy, radio. Her eyes were pools of pure blue and contained a glimmer of determination on this special morning. Today was the day. She would let it all out on the first day of the first double digit grade: Grade 10.

You see, ever since Naminé had started school at the start of the second semester of grade 9, she had developed a deep but cleverly hidden infatuation with Sora. Everything about her, every last detail (no matter how small) made her feel like squealing loudly, butterflies zooming around in her stomach. Sometimes she marveled at his hair, which had the seemingly perfect shade for a brunette, standing up in all its gravity-defying glory. His eyes were a treat too; pools of a blue shade quite similar to her irises. Perhaps they were made for each other.

For the longest time, Naminé had a great deal of fear when thinking about confessing her feelings to the boy. She had never met him properly...more like she had never met him at all. Sora just seemed like such a nice boy, and it sometimes is hard to not be attracted to a persons looks at first. At least, that was her excuse. The truth was, Naminé often felt guilty about not really knowing Sora but still crushing on him. Still, the heart can't be stopped once it's made up its mind and Naminé's heart told her that she liked Sora very much.

"Today will be the day, though." She muttered suddenly as she began to apply a barely noticeable gloss to her lips. Her movements stopped and her eyebrows rose into that of a concerned expression. "What his reaction will be...That's what I'm worried of." She whimpered.

Naminé's eyes drifted to the clock and widened. "No!" she yelped as she grabbed the white alarm clock. "This can't be right! 7:00...I gotta get going!" she mentally scolded herself for taking so much time to get ready when she KNEW that it was a long walk to the Highschool. Naminé finished up her gloss and grabbed her book bag. She ran down the stairs as quickly but carefully as she could, and ran out the door and down Oblivion Avenue.

OOOOO

In Axel's home, in his dark room, pop was nonexistent. There were only dark walls, nearly ripped posters and Linkin Park which could still be heard on Agrabah Road, regardless of his home on Oblivion Avenue (in fact, he was a close neighbour of Naminé's...how she was born with the ability to ignore his music and listen only to her pop was beyond him). Axel had fiery red hair which displayed his temper, and cat-like green eyes which exposed his sly nature.

Not many people appreciated Axel's choice of music. Sometimes the eighteen year old wondered exactly why he listened to what he did. Perhaps he listened because he could relate to nearly every single song sung by the band. Feelings of intense despair invaded his head every day, and he knew full well the source of them.

Roxas.

Axel could not find any reason that could explain why he was in love with Roxas. He just was. Even if you asked him what his favourite thing about Roxas was, Axel couldn't tell you. He simply knew that he loved Roxas, that he would die for Roxas in a heartbeat. Every day he longed for Roxas and in the night he dreamt about the boy.

Axel slowly but surely had started to notice more and more things about Roxas. The pattern of his laughs, how he sneezed not once but twice, how he seemed more likely to smirk instead of painting on a full smile. He noticed every syllable in his words, every strand of hair on his head, everything that made Roxas perfect. But what he noticed the most, the most apparent thing about Roxas, was the sad truth...that Roxas would never ever return his feelings.

Still, being a friend of Roxas and keeping his feelings bottled up inside was better then telling Roxas how he felt and not even being able to speak to him. After all, Axel spent nearly ALL his time with Roxas. Of course, he gave Roxas his space. Axel, too, needed some privacy (which unfortunately was filled with thoughts of spending time with Roxas). And Roxas loved hanging out with Axel, as well.

It wasn't enough. The man needed more.

But he wouldn't force Roxas. Axel wasn't like that...He loved Roxas too much to force him. And as he continued to touch up his fiery hair with strong-hold hair gel, his heart filled with excitement knowing that he'd be seeing him soon.

Roxas.

OOOOO

"AXEL!" Roxas yelled, pounding on the door in frustration. Finally, Roxas gave a swift kick to the wooden door. Although the door looked weak, it hurt like hell. How in the world was it possible to make doors like that, Roxas wondered. As he gritted his teeth and clutched onto his throbbing foot, he could not hear the soft voice from behind him. The music from Axel's room was way too loud.

"AXEL!" Roxas called out again, completely oblivious to the girl behind him. Finally, the blonde bombshell tapped Roxas gently on the shoulder. And although the tap was so soft, Roxas jumped out of his skin completely startled. He pivoted on his feet, only to see Naminé standing behind him, smiling and giving a small wave.

If there was one thing to be known about Roxas, it was that he had been crushing on Naminé ever since he first saw her eyes. Something about Naminé just made him feel...safe. Something about her made him feel comforted, like no matter how hard times could be, in the end everything would be okay...so long as she was there.

It wasn't like it was a huge love thing, but Roxas did have a fairly large crush on the girl. The two were pretty good friends, although not BEST friends. That was Axel's position. Still, they knew each other well enough for Roxas to know about her crush on someone by the name of Sora, whom he hadn't met before. He never knew he could feel so pissed off at a guy he hadn't even met before.

"How are you?" Naminé asked over the loud music.

"WHAT!" Roxas asked, cupping a hand around one of his ears. The music had been TOO loud. How was it that Axel had never been arrested for disturbing the peace?

"I ASKED HOW YOU WERE!" Naminé yelled.

"BEER?"

"NO!" Naminé cupped her hands around her mouth. "HOW! ARE! YOU!"

"OH!" Roxas nodded. "I'M FINE!

Just in the nick of time, the music came to an abrupt stop. "How are you?" Roxas asked, his voice slightly strained now.

"I'm fine." Naminé giggled, giving a smile. The door opened with a creek, and out walked Axel who was so tall he loomed over both the second years. Axel gave a smile to Roxas, as if he were surprised to see him waiting for him. Axel's eyes lit up whenever he saw Roxas, and his heart felt especially happy when he hadn't been expecting Roxas' arrival.

Axel flashed a grin towards Naminé, although not with the same feeling. It hadn't been noticeable, but he wasn't especially too happy to see Naminé there. He was quite aware of the feelings Roxas bore towards the girl. As much as Axel enjoyed Naminé's company, he still couldn't help but see her simply as competition for Roxas' attention. And he wasn't too ecstatic that he wouldn't be walking to school with Roxas alone, either.

"Hey, kids." Axel stepped out of the doorway and closed the door while locking it tight. "Ready to go to hell?"

"No." Roxas joked. "But who is? Let's go anyway." On that note, Roxas inserted his headphones and listened to the blessed vocals of Ayumi Hamasaki. Roxas had always been a JPop fan, for as long as he could remember. Axel scowled; there was no way Roxas would hear his voice over the music.

"So, Axel?" Naminé began to speak. Axel supposed talking to Naminé wasn't necessarily a bad thing, she just didn't happen to be his favourite person. "Got a girlfriend?"

"No." Axel's words were short and blunt, but he couldn't hide the red tinge that slowly covered his cheeks. Very slyly, Axel watched, through the corner of his eye, Roxas mouth the lyrics to the music pounding on his ear dreams.

OOOOO

Kairi couldn't think of any other place she'd rather be. Her arms would cling around Riku's strong arm, and the two of them walked down the street to Kingdom Hearts High. Kairi felt perfectly comfortable walking side-by-side with Riku, and Riku had to agree. Riku cared for Kairi very, very much and just to be around her filled him with intense emotions.

It was as if life had transformed into a fairy tale—Kairi was the princess who finally got her prince! And she couldn't have asked for a better knight in shining armour. He respected her. He respected that she wasn't some wild girl who would go club hopping at the tender age of 15. And he changed, too.

Riku used to be messed up. He could've been classified as an alcoholic. He smoked, and he did drugs. His virginity was in question as well, as Riku was quite the ladies man. Although Riku had been all over the place, he still was a close friend of Sora and Kairi's. And one day, he just put a stop to it all. Cold turkey. Ever since, being clean seemed to do Riku a lot better rather then being...dirty?

Kairi and Riku were definitely a happy couple, the kind many couples at school would be envious of. That fact went passed their minds, as all they cared about was having each other for as long as they could hold on. Riku was so good to Kairi, and such a romantic. "Riku?" Kairi looked up at the young man.

"Hm?"

"Why'd you do all that stuff?" she asked.

"What stuff?" Riku's voice was gentle and cool.

"You know...the stuff you used to do." Kairi's voice got quieter and quieter with each word. Was this the right question to ask? Yes, of course it was. The two were a couple, and loved each other. They should be able to talk about anything, right?

"To be honest, I wanted to look tough." Riku shrugged his shoulders.

"Tough?" Kairi's eyebrows raised up high. Riku WAS tough. "What do you mean? Why?"

"I wanted to impress you." Riku's voice was a half-chuckle. Kairi was filled with surprise. "I wanted you to think I was tough. That I could protect you."

"You didn't have to do that." Kairi shook her head, looking into the distance. "I knew you could protect me always. Even when we were little."

Riku shrugged once more and Kairi sighed. She somehow managed to change the subject. "Are you joining Drama this year?"

"I dunno, Kairi..." Riku hesitated. "I'd like to, but the Astrology club might take up too much of my time." He explained. Kairi sighed once more. For as long as she could remember, Riku had been interested in Astrology and had always been involved in something astrology-related. Kairi had always been in Drama. Not so much for the acting, but it was a very releasing experience for her. She longed for Riku to get involved with her. She wanted to spend all the time she could with him.

OOOOO

Kingdom Hearts High was HUGE. It would easily take a new student about two days to cover the entire school, due to its massive size. And just when you thought you had every corridor figured out, you found an entirely new section of the school right in front of your eyes. The school, however, was also quite wild due to the amount of students in different "cliques". As for the teachers, for the most part they were decent and friendly. There was the odd teacher who seemed as if he or she just loved inflicting misery upon the student body.

The first day usually made the student body seem larger then it usually was. Considering nobody knew where their classes were, the hallways were constantly crowded until their classes would be listed. Sora, who had arrived alone, could only push his way through the crowds in search for his two friends Riku and Kairi. As much as he hated seeing the two together, he couldn't help but feel like he fit in when around them.

What with Kairi's bright reddish hair paired up with Riku's noticeably silver hair, one would think that the couple wouldn't be too hard to find. Wrong. There were many, many students and many new students as well. And as Sora made his way throughout the cafeteria, he couldn't help but start to panic frantically while in the absence of his two friends.

Little did he know, Naminé had been watching Sora, sighing heavily over every movement Sora would make. Roxas sat behind her in silent anger, completely flabbergasted over Sora's appearance. Sora could easily be related to Roxas. The two of them looked like twins. How could Naminé crush on Sora without really knowing his personality, and NOT crush on Roxas while knowing HIS personality and looking exactly like Sora? It didn't make sense, Roxas thought.

Axel took note of Naminé's stares and a plan developed in his mind. Sitting beside Naminé on the edge of the table, he whispered in her ear, "Didn't you say you were gonna catch him today?" in a voice so silent that there was no way Roxas could overhear the two. Naminé licked her lips nervously and gave a nod before standing up and making her way after the brown haired boy.

Axel looked over his shoulder at the seemingly disappointed Roxas. "Sorry, man." Axel shrugged. "I guess you can't force her or anything..." Roxas said nothing.

Naminé pushed her way through the crowd of students in an identical fashion to that of Sora's. She began to make her way closer and closer to the man of her dreams, and then in an instant, someone would block her path causing her to get farther and farther away from him. Frustrated, Naminé rushed through the large crowed (NOT gently, I might add) and towards Sora. She ran smack dab into his chest.

Sora looked down at the blonde in surprise and put his hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Sora!" Naminé chirped happily. "I...I-I just...Well, I..." Her words were very quiet. She figured her cheeks must've been a dark crimson red by now.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about bumping into you." Sora apologized. He set Naminé to the side. "But I have to find my friends now. Be seeing you!" He gave her a friendly wave and turned around to continue his search.

"Don't you remember me?" She asked in a slightly louder voice. Sora stopped in his tracks. WHAT had she done? What had possessed her to say something so stupid? Sora had never met her in his life, and here she was asking if he remembered her. Sora cocked an eyebrow in confusion and scratched his neck.

"Um..Yes?" he stuttered. "I mean, no. I mean...well, should I? Sorry..."

How was she supposed to get out of this situation now? Too late, the words just came out by themselves. "I should think so." She gave a light laugh. "It's me, Naminé. Don't you remember?"

Sora hesitated, and thought long and hard. Finally, he shook his head with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry... Naminé was it? Why don't we sit down and you can tell me what you mean, cause I'm lost..."

Naminé blushed wildly. She was going to sit down with SORA. She had dreamed about this moment for so long. But she also lied...But how could she pass up this opportunity? She felt lonely as of late... "Sure!" she smiled. Sora led Naminé over to a vacant wall. Naminé's eyes lit up when he flashed her a short grin as he sat down on the recently washed floor beneath their feet. She followed suite, and the two of them sat side by side against the monochrome wall.

Lots of girls would have scooted closer to Sora and brushed against his side. Naminé, however, still was in total shock of what she had done and among other things, incredibly shy around the boy. There was an awkward silence between the two, and all that was heard was the muffled voices of the crowd of students. Finally, Sora brought up the first words.

"So...we know each other?" he asked. Naminé gulped and nodded slowly. She did not dare look him in the eye. "But how is that possible?"

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Well...I can't remember you at all." Sora sighed. Naminé looked down at her sandals and hugged her knees. Sora searched for the right words to say. "How well did we know each other?"

"Really well." Naminé smiled. She began to fidget with her fingers. Licking her lips, she began to think of a situation in which the two could have experienced together in their childhood. Her thoughts came so slow now that she had been desperately calling upon them. While she averted her eyes from the spiky haired boy, she could not see him look expectantly at her, awaiting her to finish her story.

"Oh?" he finally said in a dry voice. Naminé shook her head violently, as if to say she had zoned out for a moment. She smiled apologetically.

"Well, we were quite young.." she smirked up at him, "I don't blame you for not remembering. It WAS a long time ago."

"How long?" he asked, curiously.

Naminé thought quickly. "We were 6." She began to mentally pat herself on the back for quick thinking. "It's cause...our...mothers knew each other."

"They did?" he cocked an eyebrow and Naminé could tell he was trying hard to remember. Suddenly, she realized the error of her statement. Sora would just run home and ask his mom if she knew Naminé's mom, which she obviously did not. Naminé began to shake her head while brushing her hair slightly out of her eyes.

"Sorry, I was thinking of another friend!" she laughed a somewhat forceful laugh. "We knew each other because we lived in the same neighbourhood." She smiled to herself. There was no way that story could be twisted around against her. Sora once again had that same thoughtful look that caused Naminé to swoon. She loved it when he looked serious.

"I'm really sorry, Naminé." He apologized. A shiver went up the blonde's spine. All her highschool life, she had yearned to hear Sora at least utter her name. At least once. The only time he had done so was once before in one of their classes as they read classmates names out loud, and even then he pronounced it wrong. "But I can't remember."

"That's okay." Naminé shrugged. She didn't want to continue the lies any longer. She had already done enough damage to the boy's mental condition. "But I'm here now!"

"Good, maybe we can catch up sometime then." Sora smiled sympathetically. He really did feel bad about not knowing who exactly Naminé was. Her eyes lit up brightly and she bit her bottom lip for a moment.

"I'd really like that." Her voice slightly cracked. "But I have to go now...nice talking to you, Sora. Bye!" she waved to him and walked away, half happy and half disgusted with herself. Sora waved after her and continued to wonder about his supposed "past events" he experienced with the girl.

No time to continue thinking. He already had wasted enough time not trying to find Riku and Kairi in the colossal crowd of students. Sure enough, after much searching, he spotted Riku and Kairi (hand in hand, to his dismay) standing at the table which was handing out student schedules. Although he felt left out and unwanted, as they hadn't tried to find him, he could understand that time to get the schedules was running out and finding Sora in this crowd would have been like trying to find a needle in a haystack, despite his gravity defying hair.

"Kairi! Riku!" he greeted happily. The two pivoted and shot Sora a grin.

"Hey Sora!" Kairi greeted cheerfully. Riku nodded to him, smiling through his eyes. Riku and Kairi shoved over to give Sora room in front of the table. Sora stated his name to the teacher sitting behind the table, and awaited his schedule. Meanwhile, Kairi and Riku began comparing each others schedules for term 1. Through the corner of his eye, Sora witnessed two very sad faces.

"NO classes together, huh?" Riku sighed.

"That's unfair." Kairi frowned. "What are the chances? I thought the three of us would be in class together."

"Yeah, but I guess it's bound to happen sooner or later." Riku shrugged sadly. Sora grabbed his schedule and compared it with Riku and Kairi's.

"But I'm in almost every class with Kairi." Sora smiled calmly. In his mind, he was jumping like mad. "And I'm in one of Riku's classes."

"Well, at least I know I'll have someone I know in my classes." Kairi chirped.

"We always have break time and lunch." Riku reminded Kairi. The two of them smiled at each other and embraced in a short kiss. Sora tried not to watch. If only they knew how much it pained him to see them together. "Well, I gotta get to class, I suppose." Riku groaned. "To think it would be all the way in the west wing. Later." He waved to his two friends and walked off.

Kairi turned to Sora and the two smiled at each other. "Ready to face the music?" he asked. Kairi let out a giggle. The giggle that haunted Sora's mind every minute of the day.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, so I've obviously had this on hold for more than a while. In my defence..I had a tragic case of "I'll-get-around-to-it-itus". Ever have it? It's awful. Anyways, enjoy! 3**

**Disclaimer: If I owned KH, I'd be the happiest boy on earth.**

**-CHAPTER 2: A misery which I can live with-**

It was strange. As Sora walked alongside Kairi, he forgot every ounce of despair his heart had produced. It was as if being there with Kairi was his remedy—the only thing that could make things right. Sora was not one to complain, so as long as he could be with Kairi without actually BEING with her, he would be happy. Still, every now and then he would be harshly reminded of the depression he held in the back of his mind. He and Kairi were best friends, and because of this, Kairi was not afraid to tell various stories of her time with Riku. Each time Sora heard Kairi even utter the name 'Riku', he winced silently.

A mistake many teenagers will often make is feeling as if they are the lone soldier who has to fight the battle of a secret love. It's because of this that they often find difficulty in expressing their feelings, or coming clean to their friends. Although many other teenagers go through similar situations, the teenager in question can't come to terms with this and therefore fight the battle solo. They believe that their situation is unique and different from other loves. However, it all comes down to the same thing in the end: They all feel the same despair at one time or another.

Sora hated talking about Kairi's love life with her; but unfortunately, considering his extremely strong feelings towards her, it was nearly impossible to turn down. Everything about Kairi put Sora in his place: her smile; her eyes; the way she moved; how smooth her skin was; and above all, her voice. He could let her rant on for hours on end about nothing and would be perfectly happy so long as he heard her sweet, sweet voice. He never had to worry about her talking too much, as she was interested in HIS life as well. Sometimes Sora wondered how a girl like her could even exist.

Sora and Kairi walked inside their math class and took the first two seats in their line of vision. There was plenty of time before the class started, so for the time being they decided to relax and dive into conversation before having to write down a never ending series of notes. The two of them were completely unaware of the presence of someone in the classroom who absolutely hated Sora: Roxas.

Roxas and his friends Olette, Hayner and Pence shared their math class with Sora and Kairi. The six teens had never had an interaction with each other, and yet Roxas held such hatred towards Sora. It did not take long for Olette to notice the dirty looks Roxas was giving the oblivious Sora. Resting her elbow on her desk, Olette turned her head to look at the boy and girl who were far too deep into a conversation to notice Roxas's glare. The intelligent young lady cocked an eyebrow and looked back at her angry friend.

"Roxas?" no answer. "Hello? Earth to Roxas!" she began to snap her fingers in front of Roxas's face. Roxas shook his head and blinked a few times before smiling apologetically. "Who are you looking at?"

"Oh..." Roxas looked down at his legs as if he had to remember who it was he was looking at. Immediately, he looked back at Sora with a frown, pointing in his direction. "Him!"

"Sora?" Hayner asked in confusion.

"You know him?!" Roxas asked, almost offended. Hayner nodded with a grin.

"Yeah, he was in my history class last year." He explained briefly. "Great guy."

"He's NOT great!" Roxas spat. How could his friends possibly side with the one person in the entire world whom Roxas hated more than anything? And what's more, Hayner had some sort of _friendship_ with him. The thought of it all made Roxas sick to his stomach. "Look at that!" he gestured over to Sora and Kairi. "Flirting with that girl—"

"Kairi?" Olette asked.

"Why does everyone but me know these people?!" Roxas grunted angrily. Olette let out a giggle.

"Kairi and I study together all the time."

"Whatever," Roxas sighed, "He's flirting with some girl—Kairi—while there are other…girls that are OBVIOUSLY interested in him…and they won't get a chance if he's not even respecting their…feelings…"

"What are you talking about?" Pence asked in confusion. The three friends looked at Roxas curiously. He did not seem to be making much sense. He hated Sora, and yet he knew nothing about the boy. Roxas shook his head in defeat.

"Forget it…" he muttered. He flipped open his notebook and impatiently waited for the class to begin.

OOOOO

Axel was a senior at Kingdom Hearts high. He only had one more year to fulfill until he could go out into the real world and make some sort of name for himself. Axel only had a few select people he enjoyed the company of. He hated the rest of the student body. Axel was very sensitive, although he came off as an anti-social tough guy. Nobody talked to him and he was perfectly fine with that.

Axel remembered when he met Roxas. At first, he did not enjoy the kid's presence at all. He had been assigned to show Roxas around the school upon his entering highschool. During the tour, Axel had been very blunt. He had no desire to get to know Roxas, nor show him around the highschool. It all started out as an attempt to get extra credit…how did it end up the way it was now?

It was Roxas who had continued the friendship at first. Axel disliked seeing Roxas walk up to Axel's locker to chat with him during the fifteen minute break. Every day it was the same routine. Axel would reach into his locker to retrieve his biology textbook, and there stood Roxas—waiting for him to arrive. It was like having a pet…a very, extremely annoying pet.

Then, over time, Axel began to shoot Roxas a quick grin when he saw the younger teen walking to his locker. Now Axel would answer Roxas' stories with a comment, and every now and then a little bit of advice when Roxas had a dilemma. And there was chuckling. Normally, freshmen wouldn't be seen on a sophomore's floor. Yet it seemed like it was an enjoyable routine as time passed by.

Then…Axel found himself running to his locker to meet up with Roxas as soon as the bell rang. He was always the first out of his classroom, running across the hallway to wait by the lockers. His eyes beamed when they met with Roxas' and his smile was brighter than ever. It was around after Christmas that Axel finally realized he was bound to Roxas. It was no longer his choice to go to the locker and wait for Roxas. If he didn't wait for the boy any longer, it would be a matter of life and death. He helplessly watched as he began to fall for the boy…and that wasn't changing, no matter how hard he tried to think of other matters.

Axel sighed and began to stare at the clock. The sooner class started the sooner he could run home (or see Roxas. Both possibilities were sufficient). Rolling his eyes impatiently, the young man crossed his arms and scoffed under his breath. In walked Demyx, his only other known friend. Despite Demyx's arrival, Axel's eyes did not light up with happiness. Demyx had been his friend ever since they met in kindergarten. He sported punk-ish blue eyes and a spiked, blonde mullet. His smile was pearly white and sincere. Although Demyx had somewhat of a punk-rocker look, nobody could deny his sweet and sensitive kitten-like attitude.

Demyx didn't even have to meet eyes with Axel before sitting down in an empty seat beside him. The two of them always shared the same classes together, and talked about anything, ANYTHING that went on in their lives. It always had been like this ever since they were very young. And Axel had no doubt in his mind that it would continue until they were quite old. Demyx was the only friend of Axel's who knew of his secret love for Roxas. And Axel always talked with Demyx about his not-so-secret crush on sophomore student Larxene.

"Well, well, well." Demyx chuckled, "If it isn't Mr. My-hair's-the-size-of-my-temper!"

"Shut up."

"How ya been, Axel?" Demyx playfully punched Axel on his side. Axel dropped his guard and let his arms go uncrossed. A small smile played at his lips.

"Not too shabby." He nodded. He looked at his mullet-head friend curiously. "Where've you been all summer?"

"Rock star camp!" Demyx imitated holding a guitar and playing an intense solo.

"'Rock star' camp??" Axel cocked an eyebrow. It came as no surprise to him, although he'd never heard of such a camp nearby. Demyx always had been a self proclaimed rock star. Even in class that day, he had brought in his aqua blue electric guitar. Although he was self proclaimed, Axel had to admit it: Demyx had serious potential. His guitar playing skills were excellent, and he could read notes as well as tabs; But he scarcely played for Axel, and when Axel DID hear him it was while he had been jamming with his band.

"Got a chance to play alllll day ever day for a whole month!" Demyx winked. "And the parties were superb."

"Hmph. I wonder which you did more…party or practice." Axel muttered. Demyx shrugged.

"Hey, have you seen Larxene yet?" he asked his red headed (and tempered) friend. Axel groaned and rolled his eyes. Demyx had been crushing on Larxene ever since she arrived at Kingdom Hearts High. She was constantly shrouded in a seductive aura, bearing deep blue eyes and fine cut blonde hair. The girls' body was perfectly shaped. Her skin was a perfect peaches n' cream tone, and her cheeks were always a rosy pink. The only problem was…to put it frankly, she was quite possibly the biggest bitch ever to walk the halls of KH High. Despite all this, Demyx continued to crush on her as if blinded by his own affections.

"Stay away from her."

"Come on, she could have changed over the summer!" Demyx defended. Axel was somewhat happy with this reaction. It indicated that although his feelings continued, he was more or less aware of her…inappropriate behaviour.

"Changed??" Axel spat. "I heard she made a girl cry already within the first five minutes of her walking through the doors!"

"Well…"

"And no, that girl didn't have it coming." Axel shook his head, grumbling. He turned over to his books and muttered "I'm almost positive of that…"

"Yeah, but, maybe she still changed with…her feelings for me." Demyx wondered out loud. "Maybe she can tolerate me now." Axel glared at Demyx and pointed at him accusingly.

"You're the one who let her crush that box of chocolates you gave her last year on Valentines day, and with the locker door!" he growled, "You thought she would tolerate you then and now you're gonna set yourself up again!"

Demyx was silent. Axel turned back to his books in a huff. He knew that Demyx's thoughts remained constant. Axel could lecture and lecture and lecture; but it wouldn't change anything. Demyx was destined to be shot down once at least every month. Finally, after an awkward and uncomfortable silence, Demyx spoke up. "How's the Roxas thing…?"

Axel didn't turn away from his books. "What do you think…?"

"Yeah, well…" Demyx hesitated, "Maybe you should just get it over with and tell him."

"I can't!" Axel turned abruptly from his books. "You know why I can't do that! I've told you countless times! If I let Roxas know how I really feel, I'm fine with him not feeling the same way, but—"

"'He'll feel awkward and never talk to me again.'" Demyx finished off Axel's predictable sentence. Axel sighed, annoyed. "Sure. But you don't KNOW that! And if you don't tell him now, it might be even more awkward if someone else tells him first. Someone like, oh…say… Naminé???"

Axel grunted once more and waved his hand as if dismissing the possibility. "She's completely fallen for that Sora kid…I made sure of that."

Demyx's eyes widened and his brow formed into a frown. "Axel, what did you do?"

Axel let out a sheepish grinned and chuckled slightly. "Don't worry about it. I didn't do anything that wasn't going to happen already." He assured. Although Demyx wasn't put at ease, he shrugged it off nonetheless.

OOOOO

Math class was the most hated classes in highschool, Sora thought. If math class had manifested itself into a human being, the entire student body would immediately run to the occasion to beat the shit out of it. Of course, Sora wasn't terrible at the subject. Not that he was a genius or anything, but it didn't take him long to finish the work in front of him. He found this strange, considering the girl portraying everything he could ever want was sitting right beside him. Speaking of which, the object of his affections had just passed a note to him ever so discretely.

When Sora read the note, he was surprised it actually had a point to it. Most of the notes he and Kairi exchanged consisted of pointless jibber jabber to pass the time. This note actually had a question. _'Are you going to the welcoming dance?' _Sora stared down at the note in his hands and his heart rose out of his chest. While he knew the chances were low, he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like if she asked him to go with her to the dance. It was one of those odd situations where you know the answer is absolutely one hundred percent opposite of what you're hoping for, yet you still hope.

Alas, after a few more note coming and goings, he discovered that her intentions were only to make sure he was attending "even though he didn't have a date". Ouch. That surprisingly hurt. Grin and bear it, he thought. Sora assured Kairi that being dateless never stopped him before, and he wasn't planning on letting it now. That ended the note. Is that all she wanted? Just to ask him that stupid little question? What happened to talking about nothing? Sora looked at the clock. Ten minutes left. Ten minutes of boredom in the absence of Kairi's jibber jabber. Sighing, he began to scratch at the dents of the desk with his pencil.

The bell rang. Sweet freedom. And yet another class with Kairi. He stood up, slinging his book back over his shoulder and walking the short distance to Kairi's desk. The two of them smiled and made their way towards the door. "Work on the first day." Kairi rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Yeah, really." Sora shrugged. "I doubt we'll have many laughs in that class." Sora mentally slapped himself. That statement had been followed by a nervous and nearly creepy laugh. Kairi hadn't responded to the giggle, and Sora prayed that it was only due to the loud chatting among the students walking the halls to the next period. "So, we have English now." He stated. Kairi was silent. "Kairi?"

Kairi looked as if she had just woken up, looking at her surroundings in a daze. "I'm sorry, what was that? I'm sorry, Sora, I've been thinking about what to wear to the dance." Sora did a little victory dance in his head. She hadn't heard the creepy nervous laugh that slipped out of his mouth. This was good. The less creepy Kairi saw Sora as, the more chance he had getting with her in the near future. He shook his head violently, dismissing his previous embarrassment. "It was nothing, I guess I was dazing off too."

Kairi gave a small and gentle smile, barely noticeable. "Thinking about what you're gonna wear at the dance?" she asked sympathetically. Sora was silent for a moment, looking down at his walking feet before nodding. Kairi let out a small giggle. "Sora, it's okay." She assured, "With or without a date, you're gonna have fun. And you can play the floor!"

"Yeah." He sighed heavily. "I guess so…" Through the corner of his eye, he witnessed Kairi flashing him a toothy grin. She grabbed onto his arm, causing his face to be washed over by a deep shade of red.

"Come on," she laughed, "let's go to English now."

OOOOO

Although the day seemed to drone on into eternity, lunch had finally arrived and the students flailed to the cafeteria, their stomachs shrunken and empty. Roxas stared down at his somewhat disgusting looking vegetable soup, stirring his spoon slowly but playfully. Beside him, Naminé was slowly munching on her sandwich, giving it the same apathetic stare. Roxas looked at her through the corner of his eye. He knew he should have asked her to the dance long before she had gone to talk to Sora, but surprise, surprise: he backed down. Now was his chance. They had the lunch table all to themselves (Axel was nowhere to be found), and what's more…they had nothing better to talk about!

Roxas put down the spoon, causing it to "clank" against the stiff bowl. He opened his mouth to speak to Naminé. "Roxas?!" Naminé said somewhat urgently, turning to Roxas (and causing him to jump back a little). Shit. She talked. Roxas watched as his plan sunk into oblivion.

"Y-yeah…?" Roxas asked nervously.

"I think I've done something bad!" she buried her head into her folded arms. Roxas, uncertain of how to treat the situation, shifted his eyes, cautiously patting Naminé's back.

"There..there…"

"I think I lied!" Naminé sighed. "And not a small lie…the kind of lie you can get hated for…"

Roxas cocked an eyebrow, curious to find out what exactly Naminé had gotten herself into. She wasn't the type to get into huge amounts of trouble, if any trouble at all. Fortunately for her, Roxas was there and NOT SORA. This was a great opportunity to show Naminé how much he cared about her. "Naminé…what did you lie about?" he asked softly, slowly rubbing her back.

"I can't tell…" Naminé sulked. "Because if I tell you, you might not know what exactly is the truth and what's a lie, and if you think more is the truth than the lie, you could be mislead, and then I'll have lied again!"

Roxas stared down at the blonde for a moment in utter confusion. _What _had she just said? Despite Naminé's confusing statement, he continued to pursue his goal. "Oh…" he started, "Well, is there anything I can—"

Naminé wiped her tear stained eyes, sniffing for a moment. "It's times like this when I wished Sora was here…he has such a nice way of talking…it's like I'm the only one who matters when I talk to him…" she set back down her head into her arms, unaware of Roxas' mouthing curse words upon hearing Sora's name.

"Yeah, that Sora…" Roxas gritted his teeth. "He sure is somethin'…"

----

A/N: K so I shorted this chapter compared to the other one. I know Namine is majorly out of character at the end of this XD but I'll work on that. I tried my hardest to capture Kairi's character, as I know she can be difficult to portray. Review and you get an A!


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